The last time that Glenwood High beat Maritzburg College was in the last match of the 2023 season, when the College kicker was flyhalf Luc du Toit. His younger brother, Dominic (Dom), was College’s kicker on Saturday in Pietermaritzburg, where the Red, Black, and White hosted Glenwood on Goldstone’s.
With 24 points to his name, the Sharks‘ Craven Week scrumhalf helped put plenty of space between the home side and the Green Machine.
It took Maritzburg College until the 20th minute of the clash to crack the Glenwood defence, but once they did, Rory Stanton and company went on to dominate, powering their way to a 64-7 victory.
Their hard-running inside centre, Brent Smith, made the breakthrough, running hard onto a flat pass from Dom du Toit before crashing over the whitewash in a tackle. Du Toit then added the extras.
Only three more minutes later, College sliced through the Green Machine’s defence again. Playing with quality ball through numerous phases, they ran in a try from their own half, with outside centre Luthando Dladla taking an inside pass from flyhalf Liyema Tsoko, who had broken the line, to break clear and dive over theatrically next to the uprights. Du Toit converted.
Soon, fullback Sandiswa Hadebe sparked a counterattack from the College 22. After a grubber into the visitors’ 22, College turned over possession and released the ball down the backline, resulting in their skipper, Rory Stanton, weaving his way through for the hosts’ third try in eight minutes. Dom du Toit, as usual, slotted the conversion.
Down 0-21, Glenwood, to their credit, exhibited typical determination and forced their way deep into College’s territory. When they won a penalty, they took a tap. Some hard running and nifty footwork from substitute prop Lethu Masondo and some soft tackling from the home side saw the big man shrug off three tackles before crashing to ground to the right of the posts. Vincenzo Loutz knocked over the conversion to reduce the deficit to 14 points at halftime.
Unfortunately for Glenwood, that proved to be the highlight of their efforts, with College adding another 43 points without reply after the break.
Within the first minute of the second stanza, College camped on Glenwood’s try line. They were held up in their first two attempts to go over. The third time was the charm, though, and Dom du Toit knifed through after being fed the ball by no. 8, Rory Stanton.
It wasn’t a tough conversion kick, but Du Toit, somehow, picked out the left-hand upright, and the kick stayed out.
College enjoyed great success playing short passes off the back of rucks and hitting it up with the big guys, who ran hard, with good support play ensuring a constant flow of quick possession.
Good hands and short, sharp passes created College’s next try, scored in the left corner by Kingston Hawkins. This time, Du Toit maintained his concentration and knocked over the difficult touchline kick to make it 33-7.
Glenwood then enjoyed a period of territorial dominance, winning some kickable penalties, but they needed tries. Their attempts to turn lineouts deep in the College 22 into five-pointers came to nought, however, and they were struck with a sucker punch when an attempt to get the ball out wide was intercepted by Matthew Harris, who raced over 80 metres before making the dive for five.
Another touchline conversion from Du Toit rubbed further salt into Glenwood’s worsening wounds.
In the remaining 13 minutes, Maritzburg College added another 24 points.
Lwanzo Vyambwera exhibited quick feet and good strength to go over in the right corner, and Du Toit was just to the right of the uprights with his conversion attempt. The scrumhalf, though, dived over for his second to take College to 50 points with just under five minutes left. For good measure, he slotted another difficult kick.
Sakhokuhle Xaba scored a popular try with less than two to go, converted by Du Toit, and Alanda Ngubane corkscrewed over for the last points of the contest in the final move of the match.
College’s win was built on their dominance around the fringes, where they punched huge dents into Glenwood’s defensive line. Then, good decision-making about when to send the ball down the backline delivered plentiful rewards as the Red, Black, and White scored most of their tries out wide.
With the victory, they ended the season with 11 wins. Besides the victories, though, it was the manner in which they played the game that gave them reasons to be optimistic about 2027.
For Glenwood, it was a challenging season that brought them only four wins. Plenty of hard work lies ahead, but they have some building blocks for 2027.
King Edward VII vs Durban High School
In Johannesburg, Durban High School (DHS), coming off a hard-fought home win over Northwood, faced a tough challenge, taking on King Edward VII (KES) without the services of four players who were representing the SA u18 A side in the u18 International Series.
Throughout the season, though, DHS, as is typical of sides coached by Peter Engeldow, had blooded many players in the 1st XV, and they met the challenge head-on, coming away with a battling 22-12 victory.
They made a fantastic start, winning their own kickoff to put the Red Army under pressure. Through eight phases, they drove towards the try line, with strong support for the ball carriers as they hit it up around the edges of the rucks.
Then, on the ninth phase, they released the ball wide to the right, and captain Zion Smith, back in the line-up after an injury layoff, was over for the opening points of the game inside two minutes.
For KES, it was a tough blow to stomach; a slow start against Jeppe the previous week had doomed their chances in the big Johannesburg derby. This time, though, they didn’t let the game get away from them, even under heavy pressure from the Horseflies, who dominated territory in the early going.
When they at last exited their half, KES made it count, crossing for a try in the left corner in the 16th minute, scored by Keegan Jackson after the home side had outflanked the visitors.
DHS sucked it up and hit back quickly, with Cilermo Carolus crashing over after the Blue Typhoon had laid siege to the KES try line. Claydon Karelse added the extras with a sweet conversion kick, and DHS led 12-5.
A penalty by Karelse extended the lead to 15-5, which was the score at halftime.
In the second half, both sides added a converted try, with KES striking first through centre Luyanda Mbadamana to pull within three points of DHS in a dogged physical battle.
The Red Army bossed the territorial game, but School struck a decisive blow with two minutes to play. After a powerful DHS scrum, Zion Smith dispossessed scrumhalf Taig David, leading to a swift counterattack down the left flank, with Daniel Fwita finishing out wide to give his team some much-needed breathing room.
Karelse knocked over the conversion kick to make it 22-12.
It was tough on KES, who gave as good as they got and bossed the second half, but, as has been their challenge throughout the season, they struggled to turn opportunities into points.
“I felt at 12-15 in the second half, we had a lot of ascendancy. We were just unable to deliver that hammer blow. We had too many entries into the 22 to come away with nothing. I felt that we let ourselves down with our execution there,” KES 1st XV coach, Jabz Zulu, said.
“Nonetheless, I thought the boys fought hard.”
Summing up the game, he described himself as “chuffed with the boys but frustrated.”
Scorers:
Maritzburg College 64 (21) – Tries: Dom du Toit (2), Brent Smith, Luthando Dladla, Rory Stanton, Kingston Hawkins, Matthew Harris, Lwazo Vyambwera, Sakhokuhle Xaba, Alanda Ngubane. Conversions: Dom du Toit (7). Glenwood High 7 (7) – Try: Lethu Masondo. Conversion: Vincenzo Loutz.
King Edward VII 12 (5) – Tries: Keegan Jackson, Luyanda Mbadamana. Conversion: Connor Fourie. Durban High School 22 (15) – Tries: Zion Smith, Cilermo Carolus, Daniel Fwita. Conversion: Clayden Karelse. Conversions: Clayden Karelse (2).
Other results:
U19
II: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood 0; KES 12 DHS 20
III: Maritzburg College 38 Glenwood 3; KES 26 DHS 19
IV: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood 0; KES 17 DHS 45
V: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood 0: KES 45 DHS 10
VI: Maritzburg College 12 Howick Invitation 12; KES 38 DHS 13
VII: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood VI
u16
A: Maritzburg College 45 Glenwood 28; KES 28 DHS 45
B: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood 0; KES 23 DHS 7
C: Maritzburg College 50 Glenwood 0; KES 31 DHS 29
D: Maritzburg College 21 Linpark Invitation 12; KES 34 DHS 21
U15
A: Maritzburg College 33 Glenwood 5; KES 0 DHS 14
B: Maritzburg College 34 Glenwood 10; KES 21 DHS 28
C: Maritzburg College 44 Glenwood 0; KES 24 DHS 22
D: Maritzburg College 11 Howick Invitation 50; KES 31 DHS 27
E: Maritzburg College 17 Glenwood D 12
U14
A: Maritzburg College 31 Glenwood 10; KES 16 DHS 17
B: Maritzburg College 33 Glenwood 14: KES 12 DHS 24
C: Maritzburg College 43 Glenwood 5; KES 0 DHS 15
D: Maritzburg College 34 Linpark Invitation 26; KES 22 DHS 21
E: Maritzburg College 35 Glenwood D 25
F: Maritzburg College 53 Glenwood E 5
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